Residents of the River Valley might notice a new discrepancy between Russellville and Dardanelle schools, a discrepancy that has nothing to do with the size differential of each district.

Recently, FEMA approved funding for safe rooms for the schools in the Russellville school district, funding that wasn’t appropriated to Dardanelle, despite the school district’s proximity.

Rumors have surfaced that claim FEMA denied Dardanelle funding because they haven’t had a natural disaster occur in the area. Dardanelle superintendent John Thompson confirmed that FEMA didn’t fund the project, but added that it was because the school district never applied after FEMA informed him of a lack of federal funding.

“I wouldn’t say that’s necessarily true,” Dardanelle superintendent John Thompson said of the rumors. “We’ve been working on a mitigation plan [with FEMA], and we didn’t apply because they told us there was no money unless a natural disaster occurred.”

The Dardanelle school district has been in talks with FEMA for a year to a year and a half, according to Thompson.

Administrators at the Russellville school district confirmed that safe room funding has less to do with a criteria and more to do with timing.

“The money comes out in waves,” Nathan Barber, who is the assistant to the superintendent at Russellville schools, said. “Honestly, I think we just applied and hit it at the right time, when the money was available.”

Russellville started the process of applying for grants in 2008, according to an employee at the superintendent’s office, and the school district hired a third-party administrator to handle the deal. The process went smoothly from there.